It’s probably no secret by now that I have a thing for big brougham-y old land yachts. It certainly isn’t among my friends and family, and it’s a thing that my brilliant companion through this life happens to share.

So, in November of 2013, it was hard to look away when my great-aunt sent word that she was looking to part with her 1977 Thunderbird. Uncle Del had passed back in 2002, she’d been wintering in Florida, and her daughter lived three hours away. The Thunderbird, once a source of pride and enjoyment for my aunt and uncle, had become effectively discarded, relegated to effective abandonment in the far reaches of her brother’s machine shed behind a combine, tractors, and other miscellaneous farm equipment. Aunt Judy, not one to take life sitting down, decided it was time to part ways with the old house, a lot of the old “stuff,” and move closer to her daughter to enjoy life. And it was time for the Thunderbird to find a new home. Uncle Jeff wanted his shed space back, after all.

We went to have a look, and what we saw was the literal barn find. There was a car, covered in a thick layer of dust, dirt, and grime. The tires were nearly flat. The license plate was of a style Michigan no longer used, with the last registration being from 2007. The interior smelled of dead… something (turned out to be a mouse). So the story goes, my great-grandparents ordered the car new from the dealership. After a couple weeks, Grandma Vesta came to hate the car; she’d become accustomed to four-door Cadillacs, and the Thunderbird’s two doors were inconvenient and heavy. She insisted that they get another Cadillac, so they sold the car on to Aunt Judy and Uncle Del. They drove it in the summer some, and Aunt Judy drove it to work sometimes. They parked it for the winters, during which they’d use the 4×4 truck to get around. After Uncle Del passed, Aunt Judy drove the car only a handful of times before she finally just parked it all together.

When we looked at it, Mr. X saw memories where I only saw a neat old car. His first car was a 1978 Thunderbird, in Town Landau spec. The interior was a dead-ringer for his, save for his having the rear-window defroster that only became available in Thunderbirds for 1978. The brown velour, the instrumentation, the radio, and the rest of the interior were an exact match. It was hard to tell through the dirt and grime, but Aunt Judy assured us the exterior was a lovely tan and that she’d give us the family discount on what we all knew was a car worth at least a bit more than the $3,000 she decided was a fine price. We arranged to come back the next weekend with a check, and she arranged to have Uncle Jeff get the car out from the back of the shed so we could collect it.

There was only one caveat: I insisted that it must fit into the unusually tiny garage integral to our 1940-vintage house.

After all, we already had a 1978 Lincoln for which we had to rely on the generosity of friends to store during winter. If it wouldn’t fit, we were not buying the car-I was not going to see such a great car left to the elements to rot away after Aunt Judy and Uncle Del had taken such care of it.

Careful measurements and online sources suggested it would fit, with only about two inches to spare.

On our first trip out after the initial ride home, we got to watch it roll 80,000 miles. Aunt Judy was right about the body-it’s in beautiful shape. There’s no rust, and the Champagne Metallic paint gleams with but a wax job. We know it had some body work done to the rear-end done in 1987 after a fender-bender-Aunt Judy gave us the can of matching paint from the body work. The rest owes to winters and at least seven years in storage.

It needed a rusted brake line redone immediately before even considering a two-hour drive, and of course new oil. Fortunately, the gas gauge was dead on E, since I’d guess what little gas was left in the tank was pumped during the Clinton administration. Once home, we had to go through the shocks and fluids-they were still what Ford installed in 1977 when we got the car. All told, we ended up with a cream-puff of a car!

Driving it, I’m convinced that Ford could have given it a more formal roofline, changed the hood ornament, and called it a Lincoln to great success. The ride’s not much different than the ride of the 1978 Continental that, unfortunately, does not fit in our tiny garage from 1940.

The velour is as nice as the high-spec velour in our Continental, but the seats are not the brilliant Lincoln pillowtop lounge chairs. Instead, they have the slightest bit of contour to the backrests, but they still work out to be quite comfortable.

Even in Town Landau spec, only the driver gets a powered chair, and the Thunderbird’s occupants have to make due with a manual climate controller. Still, to suggest the Thunderbird’s occupants are trapped in the unyielding harshness of poverty or the stoicism of Teutonic design is radically off-base: The ‘Bird’s interior is a comfortable, well-spec’d, lovely place to be that happens to reflect the existence of Lincoln.

Driving around town, it feels pretty spry-pulling away from a light or into average traffic is pretty effortless. Put your foot into it though, and it makes a sensational noise that, alas, doesn’t amount to much in actual acceleration. Being the Town Landau version, it came with the 400 cubic inch V8 (6.6 L) with the 2-barrel Motorcraft 2150, one of the better carbs from Ford in that era but mated to an engine that really needed a 4-barrel. Behind them is the supremely durable and heavy-duty C6 transmission, resulting in a powertrain good for, believe it or not, slightly worse mileage than the Continental with the 460 and a 4-barrel.

Handling is the one area where there is a noticeable difference from the contemporary Lincoln. The steering ratio’s a bit quicker, so it feels a bit sharper on turning response. It doesn’t nose-dive or wallow to the same degree as the contemporary Lincoln Continental, so it’ll take a curve more ably. Even around town, the shorter nose makes maneuvering noticeably easier. But, despite the “sporty” heritage of Thunderbird generally, I can’t imagine anyone then, let alone now, would mistake the Thunderbird for a true sporting car.

That said, I imagine by the standards of 1977 the Thunderbird was a powerful and enjoyable drive-contemporary reviews were pretty favorable, and I can’t imagine a Pinto or Vega offering the throttle response or comfort the ‘Bird does.

I’ve had the opportunity to daily-drive the ‘Bird for a couple weeks. Even by modern standards, it has adequate leg room for the front seat occupants. The handling and brakes are sufficiently responsive that, after a minimal learning curve, it feels completely at ease in suburban traffic on the commute to work. I came away from those couple weeks feeling that, even in this modern era, someone could drive such a “beast” pretty comfortably, save for the duration and monetary costs of visits to the gas station as compared to a modern fuel-efficient car. Driving it back-to-back with the contemporary Lincoln also somewhat illustrates why motorists of that era might have decried the plush voluptuous excesses of the big cars. Around town, it’s, frankly, easier to drive than its bigger, more luxurious relative.

And, during (frequent) visits to the gas station, we’ve heard numerous comments. Broadly speaking, the comments we get about the Thunderbird are notably different in tone from the ones we get about the Continental. Continental comments generally relate to its beauty and often sound envious, but very few talk about their own memories of them. But, it seems that everyone who can recognize the Thunderbird either had one or knows someone that did, and I’ve heard stories ranging from sadness to delight. One commenter lamented his Thunderbird, that was stolen in the late 1980s from his driveway in Detroit. Another cursed his ex-wife, who got the Thunderbird in the divorce and proceeded to smash it. Yet a third remembered a rendezvous that led to a marriage that, as of 2016, was still going strong.

That seems to be, perhaps, the most compelling story of all regarding these, as it pains me to say, forgotten Thunderbirds. It seems like everyone had one or knew someone that had one, and not just as a stop-gap or passing fling. Yet, here we are in 2017 and they’re nearly all gone, forgotten until someone sees one and remembers “back then.” Even Mr. X’s own Pastel Beige Thunderbird likely met its fate in 1988, when rapidly-accumulating problems and the hullabaloo of Chicago compelled him to trade it in to buy a new Ford Tempo.

Perhaps it shouldn’t surprise me, then, that ours is here and in the shape it’s in. Aunt Judy’s a remarkably unconventional soul, not one to easily be affected by or afflicted with the need to conform to the prevailing trends and whims of society. Her homemade wine is potent, her sense of humor as intoxicating as her wine, and her Thunderbird was and is as agnostic toward the trends of society as she is.

So, I’ll take it as a huge compliment that we have the Thunderbird, and I’m the only other person who has her recipe for the wine!

42 Comments

Xequar, we finally get some COALs out of you! And excellently written, too. I very much enjoyed reading this and the ‘bird is a stunner. I absolutely love this generation of Thunderbird, far and away one of the most attractive personal luxury coupes of the 1970s.

Hope to read more from you! That includes something on your Lincoln, and your Taurus, and the Fiesta ST you used to have.

Just beautiful, everything – the Thunderbird (and Lincoln), the pictures, the story, the writing… Thank you for this. My Aunt Joanna had one of these back in the day (to echo your words that so many had one of these). Mr. X’s trade for a Tempo must have felt like such the comedown, even though by the mid-80s, cars like this one were out of sync with trends toward efficiency. Your Aunt Judy also sounds like a lovely, interesting, cool lady. Thank you, Xequar, for this great, compelling piece.

I recall those come downs well in the ‘80s. I danced around moving down in size and V-8 engines in my 1973 and 1976 Olds Cutlass Supremes by buying either classic cars or by moving on to full size cars such as my 1982 Olds Delta 88 and 1987 Mercury Grand Marquis. Once you were used to a certain V-8 sound and smoothness, compliant ride and isolation, a much smaller car with a buzzy four under the hood was probably the very definition of Malaise for many people. It was for me.

Hearing about your Ford stable, I’ve been wondering if you might write some COALs. Now, you’ve delivered, and it’s really well done.

It took me a while to warm up to these Thunderbirds, I didn’t think they were bad, I just didn’t think they were as special as most of the other 70s stuff. Now, I really like these cars, maybe in a different color from yours, but I have grown fond of them. I’ve often said that if I can’t get a Mark V and I wanted something similar, this generation T-Bird is one of the options I would go for.

And when you have those people who come up and say “I remember those”, I actually have the same thing. For the longest time, in the neighborhood of one of our close family friends, there was one of these T-Birds. It was in rough condition, and it was turd brown, but it was there. I didn’t know what it was, but I did eventually. Although, the rare times I’ve been there, I haven’t seen it so maybe it got sold or scrapped, but yes, in a weird roundabout way, I do remember these.

Certainly look forward to hearing about more of your cars, between this and the Lincoln Continental, I’m curious about what else you owned.

Thank you for the article and the memories. I’ve always liked this generation of Thunderbird. Given their sales success many others liked them too. Yours is the first article that actually describes the driving experience, which is, perhaps typical big Ford of the era. I’ve been there a few times and found it’s fine once you get used to the light steering and the proportions.

I lovr the details of your car. Good it’s a well optioned model. The base models were relatively plain. Also, I’m sure you know Edelbrock sells an excellent 4bbl manifold for the 400 engine, which, if mated to a 600 cfm carb will improve both power and economy (when driven modestly) . An adjustable timing chain helps too. I think you want to advance the cam timing 3 degrees.

I really like the styling on these Thunderbird’s, and this is an excellent write-up about an owner’s personal experience with one.

Unfortunately, I was surprised to find a year ago, when I saw an Anniversary Edition for sale at a fairly decent price, that these cars aren’t quite as compact as they appear to be. This version of the Thunderbird is about the same size as my Crown Victoria.
Still, the colors….the interiors/instrument panel, the vinyl roof…

What a wonderful story! It is funny that although I have quite a bit of personal experience with several FoMoCo cars of the 70s, this generation of TBird is not one of them. Which is odd, as popular as these were.

I have to remark on that color combo. I believe that Ford called that color “Champagne” and I vividly remember when it first came out in 1977. Similar colors had been popular in the very early 60s and they were all faded and dull by the time I started paying attention. But this one, new and shiny, really grabbed me and I still love the combo of this paint with the brown roof and interior.

Ford in the 70s really had a way of making their cars feel like real quality. The doors were heavy, the carpet was thick and the interior panels were nicely done and not the molded plastic found in the GM and Mopar stuff. I could see how this beautiful car could make you happy. Cheers to Aunt Judy!

Well said, JP ! Ford paid a lot of attention to colours, appearance and combinations in the ’70’s, not just with well – coordinated colours and materials but also providing a dizzying quantity of combinations, styling options and attractive appearance features. This is all particularly impressive for a high volume mass market line.

I also agree on the quality of materials used. I have several 40 to 50 year old Ford products. All the original plastics, vinyls and rubber, including the soft door seals all look like new. The cars had a quality feel that really lasted a long time.

My aunt had enough money to buy what she wanted, but leaned toward Thunderbirds and Lincolns, with some excursions in Ferrari, Rolls, some Mopars, and a 64 NSU Spider wankle, and a 78 RX-5 Cosmo coupe. She had an engineering degree and the wankle interested her. She also flew 3 of her own aircraft, Commanche twin, Aero-Commander and King Air. If you ever saw the 1958 Movie “Auntie Mame” my Aunt was a lady who lived life fully. When she bought a car she usually kept it. Unfortunately her life was cut short by cancer, she left a will with her wishes. My nephew got the 61 Continental convertible (triple white), 69 Continental coupe (triple black), 77 Town Car in emerald green, and a 78 Mark V in deep blue, as well as the NSU Spider (red, black int and top), and a charcoal gray 78 Mazda RX-5 coupe (whose roof looks incredibly like a 77 T-bird) I got the aqua/white 56 T-bird, 57 Lincoln Premiere convert,in Taos turquoise, 73 gold and white T-bird and 78 Thunderbird Heritage Edition T-top burgandy inside (leather) and out, 400 4bbl with all accessories. Soon after I got it I went to the ford dealer to check availability of heavier springs. I was informed it already had HD suspension. Through friends in the sheriffs dept I was able to get heavier duty springs and front and rear sway bars from a wrecked sheriffs car. (not a good year for ford sheriffs cars, 23 units were wrecked in 78, all from sliding off the road or into each other). My aunt had only put 1200 miles on the 78. I drove it to L.A. twice. At 90 mph it was ok in a strait line, just don’t corner. Also even with a six way power seat the seat back was too reclined. With the glass top sections off it was a bit of fun, but with body shake. I liked the looks of the 78 ok, but the handling of the 78 and 73 as well were less then I liked and sold those. My nephew sold the 70’s Continentals for the same reason, keeping the 61 and 69, completely re-doing them suspension wise to make them more maneuverable A cousin got her 68 Plymouth Hemi Roadrunner and Hemi Charger. I can see Xequar’s attraction, as these are soft, normally comfortable cars, I just personally prefer crisp handling and seats like my Imperials or Electras for long distance. Your garage situation reminded me of putting my 66 Imperial into a friends garage when staying there for a concours. He was at the rear telling me pull in more…and more. There was a crunch sound as he said “you’re in.” The crunch sound was the front of the Imperial leaving a perfect impression of the grille, front bumper and fender tips in the front garage wall, there until he moved in the late 80’s.. Glad you are keeping your cars and protecting them.

I think most carbie engines benefits from EFI. But if that’s not available, theres options. The Autolite carbs, especially the 4bbl on the 460 were excellent designs for stock engines, sophisticated and efficient.

All 400’s and the 460 made after 1971 respond well to a sharp tuning, more ignition advance and, most of all, advanced cam timing.
Afterwards, they’re like different engines, more responsive, more willing to rev, more powerful and more efficient.

EFI is nice, but the price isn’t worth the benefits in most cases IMO. A properly tuned carb can run pretty darn close to a basic EFI setup. The problem is that most people don’t know how to set them up properly. A lot of these mid to late 1970’s carbs were leaned out excessively by the factory to reduce emissions, but it also killed he drivability.

OntarioMike is on the money that it doesn’t take much to wake up a 400. The cam timing was retarded beginning in 1973, the heads were revised and flowed worse from 1975 on, and the compression dropped to less than 8.0:1 by the end of the 70’s (Ford claimed 8.0:1, but it actually was less). Running a aftermarket performance timing chain will run the timing straight up and will help improve the performance. But it is still stuck with a very mild cam though.

Both Edelbrock and Weiand make 4-bbl intakes. The Weiand is actually a bit better for flow due to the larger ports, but they are now made in china, and the quality is suspect. A 4-bbl vacuum secondary carb would be an improvement, but you’d likely have to do some tuning to get it to run well and get optimal fuel economy. Honestly, for a car like this, if the owner is happy, I’d just stick with the stock carb, especially if the owner is not much into tuning.

To really take advantage of the extra air and fuel from a 4-bbl, the engine needs a new cam, some ignition tuning and more compression. A new cam will kill the dynamic compression of the engine, which would mean it’d need high compression pistons.

We had a 1971 LTD with the 400-2V (2 venturi). After installing a dual exhaust on it, it was flowing better and running too lean.

I went out the local metals recycling yard and found a 55-gallon drum full of old carburetors, and started harvesting fuel mixture jets from the Motorcraft carbs.

Going from memory here, the stock jets were #54 (.054″), and I installed #57s and it made a huge difference in how well it ran, and didn’t really even negatively affect the fuel economy (because with the more correct mixture, you don’t have to get into the throttle as far).

I am getting ready to show my 43K mile 1977 Thunderbird at the Houston AutoRama during Thanksgiving. These cars have some of the nicest styling of the 1970s, but are extremely under appreciated. And my 351 cu. in. engine idles about as smooth as any engine can. Handling is also very good – tight but still smooth.

My Aunt and Uncle had a two door 1979 Ford LTD II. Were those cars essentially Thunderbirds?

Anyway, it was their “extra” car so I got to drive it whenever I visited them. I loved driving it, it felt solid and smooth. I also liked the high beam switch on the floor. The engine had a lot of torque and did make a wonderful sound when you accelerated.

It met its end on a rainy day when my aunt was coming out of a toll booth. She hit the gas a little too hard and the car went sideways and spun into the wall. My aunt was fine but the car was totaled.

Love both your ‘Bird and your Lincoln. I always liked this generation of the ‘Bird because they were more reasonably sized than their predecessors, and their interiors were so nicely done. A friend in those days hit the jackpot with a big promotion, and bought himself a new ’77 Cougar, very similar. It was dove grey inside and out, just gorgeous.

Wow! I never appreciated how much larger Ford bumper stampings all looked so much alike in the late ’70s. Change the width and you can pop that thing on anything from a Granada to a Thunderbird to a Continental!

This T-Bird was very much on my radar when purchasing my first few cars (used when in high school and college). Any of the popular mid-size personal luxury cars were contenders for me, but I had some worries about Chrysler quality and Ford handling and constipated and fuel swilling drivetrains. My Oldsmobile love in that era kept bringing me back to the House of Cutlass. For the genre, GM did have the handling nailed down, won most of the Consumer Reports reliability contests and the 350 4bbl 350THM Olds drivetrain was very satisfying and reasonably efficient.

The greenhouse on these cars is amazing. It’s complex and gimmicky, but for me and most people (based on strong sales) it works. This from the same company that produced the 1975 – 1978 Ford LTD two door that has similar themes and draws a WTF reaction from most people. It’s about the details and this car is one cool Bird.

I love the color combo and options on your car – I could easily see myself picking this car as a classic in my garage.

A note about options; the electric grid rear window defogger was available on all ’77 – ’79 T-Birds. I can’t find the ’77 brochure, but it was definitely available on the ’76 Ford Elite. Ford had been offering the grid defogger on certain cars since at least the 1970 Ford LTD. By the mid ’70s at Ford, the rear defogger along with cruise control were sort of entry level options over standard features on a given trim line. The main reason a loaded up car would not have the rear defogger would be that it was sold new below the snow belt.

It is interesting that Ford elected to omit the almost obligatory for the era door pull straps on the upper door card on a high trim model. Frankly, it makes the Town Landau look neat and clean inside, more like a high end ’60s car.

Great story! I’ve said before that I didn’t care much for the styling of the mid to late ’70s Fords, but they have grown on me over time. My brother-in-law had a ’78 Cougar. White with green top and interior. I didn’t think it was what a Cougar should have been. This Thunderbird is a beautiful car. Your pictures show that it was very well kept. The interiors of these Fords were nicely trimmed. The brougham door panels in my ’76 Torino Squire, though padded vinyl, have real stitching. You made note that the seats are not as nice as those in the Lincoln, but quite comfortable. The brougham seats in my Torino appear to be very similar to those in your Thunderbird. I can tell you that when I drove that car from Denver to Vermont during which I drove all but two hours of the trip, I experienced no fatigue while behind the wheel.Given that, and your T-Bird being a more refined car, it must be a real pleasure to drive. Thank God you have those extra inches in your garage. Otherwise, who knows what would have happened to that car. You and Mr. X have done a very good thing.

It’s amazing what Ford did with their re-styled Torino! That’s essentially what these cars were, along with the LTD II. They were the first of the “downsized” T-birds, being considerably smaller and lighter than their predecessors, which were very similar to the Lincoln Mark IVs. I believe these things sold something like 300k for each of the 3 models years they were in production. I liked them then and now, but always thought they would have looked better with 4-5 inches shaved off the front overhang. Those front seats look mighty comfy!

This was a most enjoyable read on so many levels – and much anticipated. My knowledge of these T-Birds is limited to what I’ve read – have never ridden in one and no one in my circle had one back in the day (though one colleague had the very high end Cougar version with vinyl trimmed “Continental spare” and top, caramel color trim over black paint). Saw so many of the low-end, rental models in SoCal that I never realized they could be trimmed out to the level of a Continental, including those beautiful turbine wheels. The color is spectacular. My Dad’s 78 Mark V Cartier was a “light champagne” color but I think I like this one better. The family element adds so much to the story. And Mr. X’s connection with his own version of the car.

This is a car I never see on the roads of SoCal any more though they were produced and sold in big numbers. Yours is a real curbside classic. Finally, I really enjoyed the way you describe how it drives and handles in relation to other cars.

Looking forward to the next COAL, and especially the 5-speed X-Type as I’ve never encountered one with that transmission.

Great car, nice write up! As a kid in the late 70’s and 80’s, I remember these being extremely common cars. Not quite as ubiquitous as the Cutlass Supreme coupe, but way up there. You can understand the popularity. You got a car that’s significantly less expensive and less massive than it’s predecessor, but still has the panache of the T-bird name and is a nice looking car on its own merits. People didn’t care much that apart from the unique roofline, it was pretty obviously similar to all the other FoMoCo midsize cars at the time. The drivetrain was pretty bulletproof, a bit underpowered with the base 302, but not bad with the big, low compression 400. The 1980 model was kind of the same formula: Unique roof treatment on their basic midsize car. Somehow, that one fell really flat…

Great write-up Xequar! I enjoyed reading about both of your cars. These T-Birds don’t seem to get a lot of respect today, but I remember when they roamed the streets and they were well liked. Talking to people that owned cars from this era, it seems that these T-birds and the Colonnade Monte Carlos both are very fondly remembered by those that owned them. It’s too bad neither of them have much of a following today.

Have you ever had your carburetor rebuilt? If it was sitting for years it might be a good idea to have it done. With the proper ignition timing (make sure your vacuum advance still works), and the carb cleaned and setup properly it should get better mileage than your 460 Lincoln. Replacing the cataylic converter with a modern unit and installing a small diameter dual exhaust (with quiet mufflers) would also be a nice upgrade to improve mileage and economy.

I am not sure how often you are looking for parts or technical information on your T-bird, but if you ever are, check out this forum: http://forum.grantorinosport.org/ Its more focused on earlier Torino’s but there are several owners of late 70’s T-birds and Cougars. It’s a great place to find parts too.

I had 78 Tbird. Though it was lower trim level it had buckets and consul. The engine was 302 with C4 trany. Navy body with gray vinyl roof and interior. It was truly a very good car, if not underpowered. I did change it to dual exhaust which helped a little in the passing lane. The exhaust was quiet and looked very original. I am pretty fussy about my cars and I kept it virtually new looking.

But alas the kids came along and I could not resist the allure of a 4 door. That’s when the Buick LeSabre Limited came along. That car was everything the Tbird was not. In every negative way imaginable. Which made the Tbird memories that much fonder.

They sold 318,000 of these in ’77 and 350,000 in ’78, so it’s no surprise that large numbers of people recall them. I have no personal experience with them, other than being disappointed in the lack of a 460 option, like my dad’s Elite had. Said Elite was at the Ford dealers body shop in an extensively damaged state on that cool Friday in September ’76. I was hoping for it to be totalled so we could get a new Bird, but Ford Leasing elected to (poorly) repair it.

I find the mid-70s T-Birds fascinating in their awfulness. I grew up outside the US and remember the ads for these in my dad’s Sports Illustrated, so it became the quintessential grotesque American land yacht for me, so different than the cars I saw on the road.

I’m still driving, every day, the 79 Thunderbird I bought in April of 02 for $900. I love it. Even at the low price point it’s been completely reliable. As in zero breakdowns and only $90 in simple R&R repairs. To be fair though, I only drive 2500 miles a year because I’m a homebody and only live 5 miles from my job. It’s nowhere as clean as yours either. But it’ll do. Here’s a pic.